WASHINGTON – Nancy Pelosi’s daughter and Rep. Jamie Raskin are going scorched earth on the Democratic Party for trying to do away with a bizarre style of voting designed to help the underdog candidate and used in New York City.

The Democratic National Committee gathered in Austin Thursday to spend the weekend setting up rules for the next few rounds of elections, including a presidential primary calendar that could favor Kamala Harris and voting on a proposal to ban ranked-choice voting.

The controversy comes amid a Democratic identity crisis. The midterm primaries have exposed the divide between the vocal left wing and the establishment standard-bearers. President Trump and Republicans have taken advantage of the confusion to paint Democrats as led by communists – a critique likely to stay in place through the 2028 election.

Ranked choice voting is a complicated system, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference: first, second, third, and so forth.

Raskin, D-Md., said the practice allows the party to be in closer contact with voters, a fear he’s addressed as he travels this summer.

He wrote on social media he’s getting questions about whether the party “has lost touch with the Democratic grassroots engaged in the fight against Trump and MAGA. I try to assure people that our party leaders are working hard to bolster all the sensational action taking place at the state and local level.”

Advocates say ranked choice voting – used statewide in Maine and Alaska and in large urban areas like Washington DC and New York City – allows for greater choice.

“This effort is not only an attack on the right of Democratic state parties to make their own rules and respond to their own constituents, but it also moves us in exactly the wrong direction in promoting electoral democracy,” Raskin said of attempts to ban the practice.

Christine Pelosi, the daughter of the former speaker and one of 452 voting members of the DNC, vowed to vote against the proposed ban.

“We need radical transparency to restore trust. This ain’t it!,” she wrote on X.

In 2019, New York City voters approved a ballot measure that uses ranked choice voting in certain elections, allowing New Yorkers to rank their top five candidates from first to last choice in all primary and special elections for Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, Borough President and City Council.

But critics complain ranked voting is complicated and expensive. Plus, the candidate with the most votes can lose.

For example, in a 2018 Congressional election in Maine, candidate Bruce Poliquin led in the first round with a plurality – 45.6% – among four candidates. But, without a clear majority winner, ranked choice eliminations were implemented.

About 8% of the vote had gone to candidates who weren’t viable so those were eliminated and the votes shifted to the second choice. Poliquin ended up with 49.5% of the vote, but the winner was Jared Golden with 50.5%.

Proponents argue the system worked – the electorate’s preference was better represented. Opponents say voting should be simpler: those with the most votes win.

Also, in ranked voting, a person’s vote may not count at all. If all of the candidates a voter ranks are eliminated, then their vote is considered “exhausted” and doesn’t go toward any candidate. 

That’s not the only drama happening inside the Austin Hilton where party members are gathered.

Democrats are preparing to finalize their primary calendar for the 2028 presidential election, knocking New Hampshire out of its first-in-the-nation status and elevating South Carolina to the top spot. 

The move could give a boost to former Vice President Harris if she makes another presidential bid. South Carolina’s bloc of black voters would have an outsized influence in naming the Democratic nominee, particularly with no frontrunner aiming for the job.

The calendar sets South Carolina as the first primary on Jan. 22, followed by Nevada on Feb. 1. New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia would round out the early states, voting throughout February.

The party’s Rules and Bylaws committee gave preliminary approval to the calendar last month.  Now the entire DNC needs to approve it and the ranked choice voting ban.

Saturday is expected to be the big showdown.